Oil prices increased to their highest levels in two years, with benchmark Brent breaching the $71 per barrel mark on Tuesday. At 1345 GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, was trading at $71.03 a barrel after gaining 2.47 percent. Likewise, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 3.29 percent to reach $68.50 a barrel. The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $67.32 a barrel with 0.22 percent decrease, Arab Light was available at $69.54 a barrel with 0.67 percent increase while price of Russian Sokol increased 1.04 percent to reach $70.26 a barrel. The Opec+ left demand growth expectations at 6 million barrels per day. The group plans to incrementally add 2 million bpd by July despite a surge in Covid-19 infections in several energy-consuming markets, particularly India. However, a robust recovery in Europe and the US has raised hopes that the market will be able to absorb the additional supply of crude. The market expectation is a gradual and cautious decrease in Opec+ production cuts, especially given that Iran is waiting for its sanctions to be lifted in the next couple of weeks and for ramping up its own production. Tehran, which resumed negotiations with the US to reinstate the nuclear deal, is expected to reach a decision before Iran’s presidential elections on June 18.